Cellulite creams vs cellulite treatments

Cellulite treatments vs cellulite creams: fast action vs value for money

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• How do cellulite treatments compare to cellulite creams?

• What is more efficient, a cellulite cream or a cellulite treatment?

• A good cellulite treatment will act faster but is more expensive

• A good cellulite cream will act slower but is more economical

• Instant vs long-term results

• What cellulite treatments and creams can / cannot do

• Severity of cellulite: creams vs treatments

• Improvement of cellulite, not elimination

• Instant miracles do not exist

• Treatments vs creams vs treatments and creams

• Creams + treatments vs diet + exercise

• Check our professional consultancy for a masterclass in radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, cellulite and skin tightening

How do cellulite treatments compare to cellulite creams?

This is a common question we hear at the clinic.

Every spring and summer millions of women undergo cellulite treatments and use cellulite creams in order to smoothen up their thighs in time for the beach.

• Most women perceive cellulite treatments as being more effective, but they are also more expensive

• Cellulite creams are much more economical than treatments, so they make more sense, at least economically

However, creams are thought by most women to be ineffective and many women believe that creams are not even absorbed. Or they believe that their benefits are due to massaging the cream on the legs.

We addressed these two myths in detail in previous articles. But in summary I have to say that:

• Of course a well designed cellulite cream is absorbed

• The effect of massaging the cream into the skin is 0 (zero)

Having cleared that up, on this article we will be looking in detail at the pros and cons of cellulite treatments vs cellulite creams.

What is more efficient, a cellulite cream or a cellulite treatment?

• First of all it is important to note that, due to the multi-faceted nature of cellulite, most cellulite creams do not work. This is because most such creams contain just one or two actives and at low concentration, instead of multiple actives to work on multiple aspects of cellulite.

• Likewise, most cellulite treatments are not very effective due to low equipment specification, poor therapist training/knowledge or both

Therefore there is a high chance that most cellulite treatments or creams you are going to try are not effective. However, a small number of treatments and creams are effective.

For the few effective treatments or creams that do work, the differences are as follows.

[On this article we will repeatedly make reference to “a GOOD cellulite treatment” and “a GOOD cellulite cream”, to differentiate from the cheap, run-of -the-mill, so-called “cellulite creams” or the many gimmicky “cellulite treatments”.]

A good cellulite treatment will act faster but is more expensive

A good cellulite treatment will provide more impressive results and faster than a good cellulite cream, but it also tends to be less economical.

The best possible treatments for cellulite are:

• High intensity, deep tissue radiofrequency

• High intensity ultrasound cavitation

• And, to a lesser extent, strong, cellulite-specific massage

Almost everything else simply does not “work”, meaning that it does not:

• safely…

• …provide good results…

• …within a reasonable number of sessions…

• …for most people

A strong, cellulite-specific treatment, such as the ones mentioned, can provide good, long-term results in 6-12 sessions, in most cases.

Of course, results will vary depending on severity, on how each individual body responds to treatment and on the lifestyle followed while on the course of treatments.

A typical course of 6x sessions of a good cellulite treatment will cost in London anything between £1,000-£3,000, PER AREA. Price is not the best indicator of quality, but these are the average London prices for the few good treatments that exist.

With treatments received twice a week, good, long-term results can be seen as early as in 3-6 weeks.

So we can say that treatments are more efficient if you are short of time but they are not efficient cost-wise.

Furthermore, regardless of cost, treatments are absolutely more effective per se.

A good cellulite cream will act slower but is more economical

A good cellulite cream takes more time to produce results but it much more economical.

Cellulite cream effectiveness depends on the type of active ingredients used, their concentration in the product and the total number of actives used.

Examples of effective anti-cellulite active ingredients include:

• Liposomal caffeine

• Gotu kola triterpenes

• Forskolin

• Horse chestnut extracts

• And curcumin, among many others

A cream that contains as many as possible of those active ingredients and more, in high concentrations, will offer maximum results.

Creams with highly diluted active ingredients and/or with only one or two active ingredients, as is the case with most cellulite creams on the market (or even with no active ingredients at all, as is the case with a top-selling “anti-cellulite cream”), will simply not work.

Again effectiveness also depends on how the body responds, on lifestyle and on severity of cellulite.

A good cellulite cream will cost about £50-£100 per two week intensive supply, PER AREA. As creams work more slowly, typically three months of daily application will be needed for results roughly comparable to those of treatments, i.e. the total cost will be about £300-£600.

Again, high prices do not automatically mean quality or effectiveness, with very cheap options usually being a total waste of money and very expensive options quite often being a rip-off.

With the cream applied twice a day, good, long-term results will be seen in about 6-12 weeks.

So we can say that creams are more efficient in terms of cost but they are not efficient if you are in a hurry.

Regardless of speed of results, creams are more economical.

Instant vs long-term results

Of course, some immediate, short-term results may be seen in as little as a few hours, with either treatments or creams, and the first long-term results may appear in as little as 2 weeks in both cases.

This is usually due to temporary water retention reduction with either treatments or creams or due to temporary skin tightening with RF treatments.

But for long-lasting, good results the numbers of sessions or weeks of cream application, as mentioned above, are typically recommended.

What cellulite treatments and creams can / cannot do

• A good cellulite treatment helps a lot with skin tightening and adipolysis (fat cell number reduction), two areas in which creams work less efficiently

• Both good treatments and creams can work well on blood circulation/lymphatic drainage, inflammation and lipolysis

• A good cellulite cream can also help with glycation, free radical damage and fibrosis, for which treatments do nothing

Severity of cellulite: creams vs treatments

• Mild cases may need less treatments (even as few as 3 sessions for some nice top-up), while severe cases may need more treatments (even as many as 24 sessions)

• The same applies to creams: mild cases may require just one month's use of cream (for some nice top-up), while the very severe cases may need up to 6 months' use, for good results

Improvement of cellulite, not elimination

It is important to note here that, contrary to misinformation in the press, the web and especially on instagram, cellulite cannot be completely eliminated with ANY method of ANY kind (even surgery).

So here we are talking about improvement according to severity of cellulite - not complete cellulite removal.

Instant miracles do not exist

And we are definitely not talking about:

• Instant results in a couple of treatments

• Or with two-week cream application

• Or about miraculous “body transformations”, as those ridiculous types on instagram claim

Such miracles only exist in the fantasy world and in the fake “before and after” instagram pictures of unscrupulous practitioners / companies (gosh, there are soooo many fraudsters on instagram).

Treatments vs creams vs treatments and creams

So in summary it can be said that:

• A quality cellulite cream offers more value for money but acts more slowly

• A quality cellulite treatment is more expensive but acts much faster

• Furthermore, creams may help in different ways than treatments

• Therefore, the combination of both will offer the fastest and more impressive results and will provide a good balance between value for money, speed of results and effectiveness

Creams + treatments vs diet + exercise

This dilemma should not even be a consideration, as diet and exercise are essential for both cellulite creams and cellulite treatments to work:

• Diet and exercise comprise the base on which we further build upon, with a good cellulite treatment a good cellulite cream or both

• Diet and exercise are essential for maximum results and for getting the best value for money out of treatments and creams

That calls for:

• A diet rich in vegetables, berry fruits, oily fish and enough protein. And a diet free of sugar, alcohol, smoking and excessive carb/fat intake.

• High physical activity levels, including daily fast walking. Plus vigorous exercise, such as running, swimming, cycling, rowing, elliptical training, HIIT etc

There is no point spending £300 for creams and/or £3,000 for treatments, only to undermine the whole process with poor diet, alcohol, smoking and inactivity.

Check our professional consultancy for a masterclass in radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, cellulite and skin tightening

Do you want to deeply understand radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, cellulite and skin tightening? Attend a half-day, 1-day, 2-day or 3-day professional consultancy / one-to-one training and confidently offer your clients the safest, strongest and most effective treatment possible. Service available via Zoom or at our central London practice.